not sure what to put in your email?

Here are some ideas to get you started.

Dear <put recipient’s name here>,

I understand that the Georgian Bay Aspiring Geopark was awarded its “aspiring status” based on a single letter and a meeting with the Canadian Geopark Network.

“There was no thick application, it was really putting a proposal in a letter, that, and a dialogue with the Canadian Geopark Network.” – Tony Pigott, Dec. 20, 2024

We are concerned that UNESCO and the Canadian Geopark network did not receive a complete representation of the intentions for the geopark in those communications. Our concern is not with the scientific arm – the geologist associated with the geopark is world renowned, it is with management body that is using a geopark status to monetize this environmentally sensitive area.

Firstly, the geopark is not a Georgian Bay initiative; it is a Simcoe County initiative. While the north part of Simcoe County touches only a small portion of Georgian Bay at its immediate south, the county is trying to claim all 48,000 square kilometers in order to monetize it. The geopark idea came from a property development organization looking to attract developers to an undeveloped property called Midland Bay Landing.

Please visit https://thegbg.ca/ for a full and accurate context. There is also a brief video that is evidence this initiative is not being undertaken in the spirit intended by UNESCO.

Further to that spirit, the aspiring geopark is not following the “bottom-up process involving all relevant local and regional stakeholders and authorities in the area (e.g. landowners, community groups, tourism providers, indigenous people, and local organizations)” – it is being led by a small group of individuals primarily based out of Toronto and southern Ontario. The executive director is a retired advertising executive who was also the Toronto based branding consultant hired by Midland Bay Landing Development Corporation. The leadership team has not involved multiple stakeholders including many of the municipalities and Indigenous communities in the region. The Executive Director is on record stating “Simcoe County is where it’s happening for us.”

The Georgian Bay Aspiring Geopark does not meet the basic criterion of a geopark as specified in the UNESCO website:

At 48,000 square kilometers, the area designated as the Aspiring Georgian Bay Geopark is not a single unified area on multiple levels. Sociologically, its large and diverse group of communities of 6 districts, between 12 and 20 Provincial/National Parks, 33 municipalities, 41 First Nations and 5 Métis councils indicate it is not a single unified area. Ecologically, it is already home to two UNESCO Biospheres reserves (Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve and Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve) indicating it is not a single unified ecological area. Geologically, the Aspiring Geopark has divided Georgian Bay into eight “Deep Time regions”, each with different geology, indicating that is not a single unified geological area.

The Aspiring Geopark leadership team is on record stating that “mass tourism is coming to Georgian Bay.” They are also on record stating that they do not have a written tourism plan. Georgian Bay is home to 50 endangered species which will be put even more at risk by this initiative. The leadership team is taking no accountability for the costs or environmental impact of their actions. They are on the record stating that their geosite destinations will be managed by others, not them.

Meanwhile the Aspiring Geopark is receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars of government funding and is already marketing Georgian Bay on a global basis as a tourist destination.

I respectfully request that the Aspiring Geopark status for Georgian Bay be revoked.

If you would like to receive a deputation with more information about the why the Geopark will harm Georgian Bay please contact Georgian Bay Strong at [email protected].

Thank you for your consideration,

<signature>